Archivists' Trek: TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is an important day for those of us interested in history, culture, and Canada.  The Archivists' Trek is taking place to protest cuts to Canadian culture, specifically those affecting Library and Archives Canada and the myriad programmes that work to fund institutions charged with preserving our history.  Here is a pretty awesome comic explaining why we need to reverse these terrible cuts:

As it turns out, I'm in beautiful Ottawa right now.  I'm writing a paper that I researched at the very archives that need protecting.  Tomorrow, after a park-sit and a delicious sandwich at Dirienzo's, I'm going to head over to the archives and protest the hell out of this thing.  I'll do my best to take horrible cellphone pictures and post them here and on twitter. 

Hope to see you there. 

Funeral Wreath at Library & Archives Canada

Well done.

Save Library and Archives Canada

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Bill C-38 and "Democracy"

 Worth a read.

I've never written a letter to an MP before, which seems odd.  I've also never written a letter to the editor.  It seems I just might start doing more of both.  Last night I wrote (well, emailed) to Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre, Hedy Fry.  Here's what I said:

Dear Ms Fry,

I am concerned about the implications of Bill C-38.  This omnibus bill must be divided so that the individual propositions can be debated thoroughly, especially as they impose sweeping changes to environmental regulations and EI.  As Andrew Coyne noted this week in the National Post, the passage of this bill would serve to dilute our democracy. 

I would like to know what you, the Liberal Party, and the Official Opposition are doing to prevent this abuse of governmental power?  It is at times like these that members of the opposition, ALL members of the opposition, must act on behalf of Canadians.  Most of us can accept a government that we don't agree with -- that's called democracy.  What we can't stand for, however, is an opposition that sits on its hands while the government strips away the democratic principles we hold so dear.

I thank you for your time,

Jeffers Lennox

Who knows if she (or, really, one of her staffers) will write back.  But just the act of getting it out there helped.  It's what more people need to do.  The Harper Government™ does what it wants in part because as a citizenry we are too apathetic.  We don't hold our leaders to account.  I can accept a government that doesn't reflect my political views, as long as that government was duly elected and behaves as a government should.  Recently, however, Lawrence Martin compiled a laundry list of this particular government's misdeeds (in an article aptly titled "Is this still a democracy?").  These actions are troubling not because I don't agree with the policy, but because no Canadian should agree with the methods.

Until we care enough to protect our democracy (even if it's just sending a letter), why should the government bother respecting it?

#HarpersHistory

We get it: he's an economist.  He cares about numbers, and finance, and GDP, and whatever.  Last week, while arguing in Question period with the NDP about Canada's military engagements, Harper fell victim to Godwin's Law by arguing that the NDP didn't even support fighting Hitler.  Never mind that the NDP didn't exist, this is Harper's History.  Fortunately, most Canadians -- especially those with some knowledge of our past -- were able to offer a corrective.   Then #harpershistory started trending on Twitter.

Canadians learn about our past in many ways.  One of the most satisfying -- though not always the most accessible -- is a trip to the National Archives.  With its immense collection, helpful staff, and welcoming atmosphere, the Library and Archives of Canada has been instrumental to shaping the way Canadians think about our past.  It's not just a place for grad students, professors, and super nerds.  It is a public space for all Canadians.

Well, that has changed.  The Harper Government™(which, it should be noted, is bent on rebranding Canada's history to mirror official military and fiscal policy) has cut funding the Library and Archives.  Staff will be laid off, and the public will not have to make an appointment to meet with an archivist.  This comes a few months after the public learned that booking a room at the Archives would be increasingly difficult because government officials would be given first dibs.

And things are little better around the globe.  "Understanding Canada", a project of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, has also been chopped.  Grants from this project were used to fund Canadian Studies programmes around the world.  

A more paranoid person than I might wonder if Harper is working to ensure that #harpershistory is more difficult to challenge, question, or debate.  As a friend, scholar, and avid supporter of Canadian studies abroad noted today, the silver lining might be "we don't really want the world to know this version of Canada." 

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Edited to add this link, which neatly summarizes Harper's vision of Canada.